Deals With Drugs and Hugs
by PaperMoons
Summary: AU xover Veronica Mars mostly Buffy chars set in VM universe, BA and a little LoVe. Angel's accused of murder in Neptune and he tricks Buffy into helping prove his innocence. The relationship and the crime gets complicated as secrets are revealed.
1. Prologue

Title: Deals With Drugs and Hugs

Author: me hehe...

Disclaimer: none of it's mine, belongs to Joss Whedon and Rob Thomas, blahblahblah

Summary: AU and Xover w/Veronica Mars, BA and a little LoVe. Angel's accused of murder in Neptune and he tricks Buffy into helping prove his innocence. The relationship and the crime gets complicated as secrets reveal themselves. Some plot taken from VM.

Timeline: Set around the 2nd season of VM, but the only thing that's sort of the same is Felix's murder. Buffy's a sophomore with Willow and Xander, the rest of them are seniors.

Spoilers: Season 1 VM but none for Buffy (except maybe her parents' divorce).

Rating: R for violence, crime, some language.

Feedback: it's like chocolate :)

A/N: For anyone who watches VM (you should if you don't, its a great show :D), you might recognize some of the plot, even if the characters are different (Buffy and Angel are so _so _much better than Logan and Hannah together -shudder-). It'll get a lot more AU later on, but for now, there will still be a lot of similar stuff.

* * *

Angel couldn't believe he was speeding around Neptune in his car at one in the morning looking for his probably too-drunk-to-stand stepbrother. But he was, and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Veronica Mars, Logan's girlfriend, had called him while he was at a party with the other elite crowd of 09ers telling him that she had accidentally set a gang of angry bikers on Logan by accusing Logan wrongly of murdering her dead best friend, Lilly Kane.

Angel had never been too clear about Lilly Kane, but he knew that she had been the queen bee of the Neptune social hive. Best friend to Veronica, cheating lover to Logan (Angel himself had slept with her a couple times), wild sister to Duncan, who was her much milder brother. Lilly was also the desired unattainable to many guys, including Weevil, leader of the local PCHer biker gang, which was why Logan was in danger.

She was the most beloved daughter of the most beloved family in Neptune until she was murdered a year ago. Suddenly Veronica wasn't part of the in crowd 09ers anymore, and Logan became as messed up as Angel was. Duncan retreated into his inner-est shell and the whole school went to hell.

Angel remembered his surprise at Logan and Veronica's relationship's dramatic change since at the beginning of the year, Logan had done as much as he could to destroy Veronica's life and vice versa. But now that he thought about it, he remembered that there was already something between them ever since his stepmother and Logan's birth mother had committed suicide because of their son of a bitch dad's abuse.

Angel cursed as he continued speeding down the streets of Neptune, hoping that there weren't any sheriff or deputy cars around. Finally, nearing the Coronado Bridge, he spotted Logan's bright yellow car parked on the side. Hopefully he wouldn't copy his mother and try and jump off.

Angel hurriedly parked his car behind Logan's and ran out to the wall on the edge, where Logan was…dancing? Yeah, he was definitely drunk.

"Logan get down before I tackle you," Angel shouted at Logan who looked a little unsteady.

"What's the hurry, big bro? We've got all the time in the world…" Logan said cheerfully, but Angel could tell he was broken up about Veronica's accusation.

Before Angel could respond, he heard the roar of maybe 10 motorcycles behind him. Angel cursed under his breath as they stopped as one in front of Logan and Angel.

Weevil took off his helmet and grinned up at Logan.

"Well, well, what have we here? A murderer and his fucked up brother. What do you think, guys, what'll we do to them?" Weevil said. The rest of his gang laughed obediently along.

Logan laughed back into Weevil's face. Angel didn't laugh along but he balled his hands into fists, ready for a fight, even if they were outnumbered five to one.

"Seriously, what do you think you can do to me, Weevs?" Logan said with the cheerful look still plastered on his face.

"I'll think of something," Weevil said, his smile gone.

Logan did a good imitation of Morpheus from the Matrix in response. Weevil got off his bike and charged at him. Angel tried to tackle him before he got to Logan, but Logan kicked Weevil in the head first, knocking him unconscious. The rest of the gang shouted in anger and jumped off their bikes too.

Angel knew they were never going to win, but at least they could take some of the bikers down with them. He fought, not caring where he hit as long as it kept them off him, but there were too many of them and his body was screamin with pain. The last thing he saw before he passed out from the hits was Logan falling unconscious near him.

------

"Hey, you okay, son? Stay there, I've already called the police and the ambulance."

Angel looked up blearily at a Hispanic guy who was leaning over him. He could make out a blurry truck behind the guy through the dizziness that was slowly clearing up.

"Why don't you put down that knife?" the guy said, looking at Angel's hand.

Angel looked at his hand in surprise. There was a bloody knife in his hand that he didn't remember using or even owning. With a sick feeling in his stomach he lifted his head and saw a still unconscious Logan and the bloody corpse of one of the bikers.

For probably the hundredth time that night, Angel cursed.


	2. Chap 1: Three Months Later

Title: Deals With Drugs and Hugs

Author: me hehe...

Disclaimer: none of it's mine, belongs to Joss Whedon and Rob Thomas, blahblahblah

Summary: AU and Xover w/Veronica Mars, BA and a little LoVe. Angel's accused of murder in Neptune and he tricks Buffy into helping prove his innocence. The relationship and the crime gets complicated as secrets reveal themselves. Some plot taken from VM.

Timeline: Set around the 2nd season of VM, but the only thing that's sort of the same is Felix's murder. Buffy's a sophomore with Willow and Xander, the rest of them are seniors.

Spoilers: Season 1 VM but none for Buffy (except maybe her parents' divorce).

Rating: R for violence, crime, some language.

Feedback: it's like chocolate :)

A/N: For anyone who watches VM (you should if you don't, its a great show :D), you might recognize some of the plot, even if the characters are different (Buffy and Angel are so _so _much better than Logan and Hannah together -shudder-). It'll get a lot more AU later on, but for now, there will still be a lot of similar stuff. This chapter's mostly filler, giving info about Hank and stuff, Buffy will probably show up in the next chapter.

* * *

"Are you going to help me or not?" Angel said furiously, rapping the lunch table with his knuckles. 

"I will, but the only reason I'm doing this is because I feel guilty that I'm half the reason you and Logan were even on the bridge," Veronica said just as angrily. "And you know my dad would freak if he found out that I'm still dating Logan AND that I'm helping an accused murder." Angel paused.

"I know. And thank you for doing this," Angel said a little more calmly. Veronica's eyes softened.

"I'll get a profile on this witness who claimed he saw you stab Felix. See if we can find out what's underneath that perfect doctor exterior. That's all I'm going to help you with, though. I'm not even completely comfortable with Logan right now. You two need to stop having this fight to the death thing with the PCHers."

"Well, I would, but then I might have to lend the PCHers my copy of 'Peace for Dummies,'" Angel bit back.

Veronica sighed and got up from the table to head back into the school. Angel squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before also getting up and joining the other 09ers' lunch table. He tuned out the 09ers' conversation. Sometimes they really bored him with the endless bitching. Some of them seemed to actually have a heart and brains, though, like Cordy Chase and Meg Manning.

Veronica had caught Lilly's murderer who turned out to be…guess who? His and Logan's daddy dearest, Aaron Echolls, former movie star and now jailbird. Angel couldn't honestly say that he missed his dad, who had abused his sons, step or not, and wives, ex and dead, regularly. Plus he'd killed Lilly, not to mention trying to kill Veronica and her dad.

It had been three months since that night on the Coronado Bridge. Angel knew he was in trouble when he and Logan had been arrested for the murder of Felix Toombs, which he knew they were innocent of. He could remember Logan passing out and himself passing out right after. The bikers didn't seem to agree with him, though.

The gang hated him and Logan even more since the bridge incident, which led to the fight Veronica had mentioned between the 09ers and the PCHers. Rich bad-boys against poor bad-boys. Angel knew it wasn't going to end well; tensions were already running so high. He didn't care much what happened to anybody else, but he was going to try and get himself and Logan out of the murder case at least, although Logan wasn't in as much danger as he was for the crime. The knife had been in his own hands.

"Hey, Angel man, you free tonight?" Dick Casablancas (he was his name) asked, pulling him out of the past events.

Angel rolled his eyes inwardly, but gave the almost expected response, "Since when did you start dating older guys?"

Dick laughed with the rest of the table, but his was the only uneasy one. He knew who was king, even if he didn't like it.

"Ha ha, but seriously, dude. Those PCHers need to pay…" Angel stopped listening.

------

"So I did a background check. This guy's so clean he could replace Mr. Clean," Veronica said during one of Angel's study hall periods the next day.

Angel raised an eyebrow at Veronica.

"Okay, yeah, my witty quips are neither witty nor quippy today, so sue me," said Veronica, grabbing a seat next to Angel's computer desk. "But honestly, I can't find a single damning detail on this guy or even a link from this guy to Felix or any of the other PCHers. I followed this guy around yesterday and pretended to want fake bigger boobs for you, so I expect you to be a better brother to Logan," Veronica mock scolded him.

"Oh, Veronica, you know there's no better brother in this world than me," Angel grinned at her.

"Ah, and there's the killer smile for the ladies. Anyway, this guy seems respectable enough for a plastic surgeon. He advised against surgery for me, but I followed him around while he took his break and…"

"And?" urged Angel.

"He went to this cigar store, which I guess is normal, but then Dad said that that cigar store's been suspected of being a front for drug dealers," Veronica said slowly.

"So he's a druggie?" asked Angel excitedly.

"Could be. Or he was just looking for some decent Cubans. Anyway, I've found everything I could on this guy and looked it over a little. I skimmed it on the computer, but I didn't have time to look at it completely, so here you go," Veronica said. She handed over a manila folder to Angel.

Angel opened it, reading carefully. He didn't want to miss anything. Hank Summers, well-known plastic surgeon, one child, a girl, divorced about a year ago, yadda yadda yadda. There was a disciplinary section in the information.

"What's this?" Angel asked, pointing out the one item listed under 'Disciplinary Action.'

"Danny Boyd versus Hank Summers, charge was for an inappropriate off-site practice," Veronica read aloud.

"Inappropiate, how?" Angel asked.

"Wait a sec, I know this guy. Danny Boyd, Danny Boyd…oh! He's one of the Fitzpatricks. My dad had a little trouble with him a while ago on one of his cases," Veronica said ignoring his question.

"The Fitzpatricks? Like the first family of Neptune crime Fitzpatricks?" Angel said getting excited. "And throw in the cigar store that's not really a cigar store…"

Veronica nodded seeing the connection. Anyone who did drugs at Neptune High knew that one of the best sources were the PCHers, who sometimes acted as the Fitzpatricks' drug-dealing bitches. It wasn't clear yet why someone, or someones, had wanted Felix dead, but it was almost obvious that the well-to-do Hank Summers was probably just another cokehead being supplied by the Fitzpatricks. Felix had probably done something to piss the Fitzpatricks off, hence the murder.

"This isn't going to help, though," Veronica said suddenly.

"Why not? We just take this information to the sheriff, show him the connectio—,"

"Look, Angel, my dad isn't the sheriff anymore. It's Lamb and he's the asshole king of assholes. He even beats you and Logan on one of your moody days. And it doesn't help that he hates both of us. He won't move a muscle to actually do his job unless we give him solid proof," Veronica said. "You're going to have to think of something that he won't be able to ignore or some way to get this Hank Summers to withdraw his testimony. Well, I got to go. Your study hall teacher looks like she's ready to eat me. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Angel smirked at the last comment. Veronica winced in response as she realized what she'd said.

"I mean, um, don't do anything illegal," Veronica corrected herself, before hurrying out of the classroom.

Angel laughed to himself quietly. Veronica could be bitchy if you got on her bad side, which was where most of the other 09ers were, but they were like siblings and she wouldn't betray him. Her relationship with Logan only made theirs stronger.

Angel sighed, looking back at the manila folder's papers. There had to be some way he could get Hank Summers to stop lying. Angel knew he wasn't the witness and now with the help of Veronica's investigation, it was obvious he was lying.

Maybe there was some way he could blackmail Hank into withdrawing. It was illegal, which might get him into more trouble, but he couldn't see another way out of this. Maybe he could show everyone what a druggie the guy was? But no, he would need proof that he couldn't get.

Angel sat up straight suddenly as he remembered a detail in the report. One girl, and divorced, so she was probably one of the only people he cared about right? If she was the right age and he could charm her into dating him, he would have a weapon again Hank. Who would want their baby daughter dating an accused murderer with a mostly either dead or imprisoned family and who had been in and out of rehab for the year before? Definitely not Hank Summers.

Angel quickly read over the section on the Summers family. One child, a girl: Buffy Summers.


	3. Chap 2: Perfect Date

Title: Deals With Drugs and Hugs

Author: me hehe...

Disclaimer: none of it's mine, belongs to Joss Whedon and Rob Thomas, blahblahblah

Summary: AU and Xover w/Veronica Mars, BA and a little LoVe. Angel's accused of murder in Neptune and he tricks Buffy into helping prove his innocence. The relationship and the crime gets complicated as secrets reveal themselves. Some plot taken from VM.

Timeline: Set around the 2nd season of VM, but the only thing that's sort of the same is Felix's murder. Buffy's a sophomore with Willow and Xander, the rest of them are seniors. This chapter takes place in the VM episode "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough."

Spoilers: Season 1 VM but none for Buffy (except maybe her parents' divorce).

Rating: R for violence, crime, some language.

Feedback: it's like chocolate so R&R please D

A/N: For anyone who watches VM (you should if you don't, its a great show :D), you might recognize some of the plot, even if the characters are different (Buffy and Angel are so _so _much better than Logan and Hannah together -shudder-). It'll get a lot more AU later on, but for now, there will still be a lot of similar stuff.

* * *

"Oh, Buffy, come on. You know it wasn't your fault about what happened with your parents," Willow said to her best friend as they hosted a game booth with teddy bears for prizes. 

"I know, but I just can't stop thinking about it. Even if it's already been like a year… Anyway, sometimes I think that if they didn't think it was me who went pyro on the school gym in L.A. and gotten into fights about it, they would still be together," Buffy said a little sadly, trying to concentrate on picking at a splinter of wood on the booth counter.

"Don't blame yourself! That's not true and we both know those were just rumors. It wasn't even you," Willow said, pretending to glare at Buffy. Buffy gave a weak smile in response and turned to a student waiting at the booth.

Willow spaced out as Buffy handed the guy some horseshoes for their booth. Their booth was possibly the most boring one in the whole carnival, but at least it gave them plenty of time to talk about how evil Snyder was. Willow perked up when she noticed a familiar looking guy near their booth who was staring at Buffy like he was debating whether or not to come over.

"Hey, don't look yet, but that guy over there's checking you out," Willow whispered excitedly after their only player of the day left. She pointed "discreetly" to Buffy's left.

Buffy sneaked a peek in the corner of her eye at the mystery boy. She noticed the tall, dark-haired guy looking at her and felt her heart speed up at the sight of him. She knew who it was.

"Oh, my God. That's Angel Echolls! And he's checking out _me_," Buffy whispered back just as excitedly.

"Angel Echolls?! I didn't even recognize him from here. Wow, he's practically like the god of this school for those other idiot 09ers," said Willow with her eyes wide.

"Nice way of putting it. Oh, my God, he's coming over here! What do I do?" Buffy said nervously.

"Be the loveable Buffiness that is you," Willow said encouragingly with a smile for her friend.

Before Buffy could respond, Angel walked up to the booth.

"Hi, do you want to play our game?" said Buffy breathlessly. She instantly gave herself a mental kick. Could she sound more moronic?

"Sure. Horseshoe on the rod, give me a prize, right?" said Angel, putting on what Veronica said was his "killer smile." He didn't think this would be too hard. She looked innocent and pretty willing to believe people.

"Yeah." Buffy flashed him her own blinding smile in return.

She gave him three horseshoes and Angel almost smiled when he noticed that her hands trembled when they brushed against his. He held one up and focused on the rod, concentrating. Buffy burst out laughing before she could stop herself.

"What?" Angel said, almost pouting at her.

"You and your face. You look so serious when all you get is a teddy bear," Buffy said between laughs. Willow just watched the two of them and smiled to herself.

Angel stuck his tongue out at Buffy and he was surprised at how playful she was making him feel just from a laugh. She was…different. She seemed much better than most of the brainless 09er ditzes who basically lived for sex, money, and gossip. For a sudden moment, Angel felt awful about what was going to happen to her because of him. It would've been better if Hank's little girl didn't seem so trusting. But he wasn't going to back out now.

"Just wait and watch my skill," Angel said, smirking playfully, although it was more forced now.

Buffy just bit her lip to keep back a laugh. She had never seen this side of him before at school. Not that she knew him well. Or at all actually.

Angel tossed a horseshoe and it landed neatly on one of the rods. He did the same with the other horseshoes. Buffy and Willow applauded and he took a mock bow.

"Give the lady a prize," Buffy echoing his words from before jokingly. She took down a giant teddy bear that was almost as big as she was and heaved it into Angel's arms.

"Can't…breathe," Angel said with his voice muffled from the teddy bear.

Buffy and Willow laughed, but didn't make a move to help him. Angel groaned and dropped the teddy bear unceremoniously on the ground.

"I think you owe me a date just for trying to suffocate me," Angel said to Buffy, making her blush.

Half of him wanted her to say no and save her from the heartbreak that automatically lay on that path. He pushed the feeling angrily aside. This wasn't going to work if he was busy feeling guilty all the time. Besides, he was almost sure that she would say yes. He had seen her whispering to her friend (what was her name again? Had something to do with a tree) and pointing towards him before.

"Rain check?" Buffy said. She felt the butterflies in her stomach go wild as he asked her out, even if she had to say no. "We have to keep watch on this booth or else Snyder will get into another one of his lectures on ten reasons why Buffy's a delinquent." She rolled her eyes.

"Aw, see now I'll be half-asphyxiated and heartbroken because of you." Angel leaned on the counter on his elbows and stared up at Buffy with the irresistible puppy eyes. Buffy wavered and looked over to Willow for advice.

"Buffy, why don't you go with him? I'll force Xander to come over here and we'll man the booth and cover for you," said Willow. She could tell that Buffy liked Angel.

"Thanks, Will!" said Buffy gratefully.

She flashed Willow a smile and a wink before walking out around the booth to stand beside Angel.

"Come on, let's go," Buffy said, taking Angel's hand, making her own heart beat a little faster than normal. She waved to Willow before pulling Angel off to the other stalls.

"So, where do you want to go?" Angel asked, suddenly nervous, which really wasn't like him at all.

"Don't care. You want to go see what some of your friends are doing?" Buffy said.

"All right."

Angel really couldn't think of any friends that he had who he would want Buffy meeting. He imagined Buffy meeting Dick and almost cringed. He thought of Veronica, but she might guess what he was doing with Buffy. He finally thought of Cordelia, who was okay for an 09er. Sometimes.

"Your name's Buffy?" asked Angel, even though he already knew that.

"Yeah," Buffy asked a little suspiciously. She was a little protective of her name.

"Oh. Why Buffy?" Angel had been wondering that for a while.

"What's wrong with Buffy?" Buffy scowled. Angel couldn't stop himself from smiling at how cute she looked when she was mad.

"Well, it's not really a name you hear everyday."

"Right and Angel is a perfectly normal name," Buffy said, poking his side.

"Touché," Angel laughed.

"My mom named me Buffy. I never asked her where she got it," Buffy finally answered. "Your turn."

Angel was silent for a few moments.

"My real name's Liam. It was my mom who called me Angel the first time too. Not my dad," _N__ever my dad_, Angel thought.

"She died a few years ago, didn't she?" asked Buffy softly. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask him about it, but she didn't like to see him sad.

"Yeah. 'Car accident' was the official term, but it's not really an accident anymore when you're stone sober and driving a hundred miles an hour into a brick wall," said Angel, staring down at the ground as they walked.

Buffy gazed at his face for a moment and gathered up all her courage before wrapping her arms around his middle. Angel swallowed hard and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, glad for the comforting warmth.

"Do you miss her a lot?" asked Buffy, looking up at Angel's face. He was staring resolutely ahead of them at nothing.

"Sometimes. I try not to think about her much. Anyway, wherever she is right now has got to be better than the life she had here," Angel said darkly.

Buffy wondered what he meant by that. He seemed like he had a charmed life, but she realized that not many people knew what Angel's actual life was like. Buffy didn't ask him anymore about what he meant because she could tell he wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

Angel didn't like talking about his mother much and he'd never talked with anybody about the 'accident' besides Buffy. He knew it was stupid, but he was mad at his mom. Why did she get to take the easy way out and leave him alone in his personal hell?

They walked in a silence a little more when Angel stopped to buy a stick of cotton candy to cheer themselves both up, which Buffy immediately took a handful out of. He pretended to glare menacingly at her.

"What? I like sugar," said Buffy with her mouth full of Angel's candy.

"You like _my_ sugar, Buffy," said Angel, smiling.

"Oh, that's gentlemanly of you. You're supposed to buy _me_ the food," said Buffy, pouting.

"I'll save that for the restaurant dinner dates," said Angel. It was nice to get his mind off his mom.

Buffy's heart beat a little faster at that. She wasn't stupid. She knew she was probably just a random fling to him and he was joking. This was Angel Echolls, he wouldn't like a non-09er unless it wasn't a real relationship. But still…

"You know you're like impossible to stay mad at," said Angel truthfully, squeezing her shoulders for a second. He gently pulled her along to Cordelia's pie booth, which she was sharing with Meg.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," said Buffy with a grin on her face. She was glad that he didn't seem so depressed anymore.

The carnival was like a dream come true for Buffy. Angel made her blush and be close to hyperventilation in a good way. And he was sweet, not actually unfeeling, which was how not just a few people described him as. Not to mention all the jealous looks she got from the 09er bimbos that she hated so much. Life was good.

Angel wanted to groan at the way things had turned out. His plan had been to charm Buffy into agreeing to date him at the carnival, which he had, but this wasn't exactly going as he'd planned. Sure she was supposed to like him and he was sure she did, but she was making him happy too. Which was never a good sign in Neptune. The ones who cared about you become the ones who betray you a lot in Neptune, which ironically enough, he was going to have to do to her eventually.

"Well, I can see my dad's car coming, so I think this officially concludes our first date," Buffy said stretching her arms out and yawning.

Angel picked out Buffy's dad, Hank, in the driver's seat of one of the cars coming into the Neptune High parking lot. He forced himself to remain calm and try to find a way to show Hank that his one and only angel of a daughter was dating a devil.

"I'll see you soon? How's next Friday?" Angel asked hopefully, turning back to face Buffy with Hank's car facing his back.

"Sure," said Buffy. She made herself stay still, but she jumped up and down inside. "You want to go to the Hut for coffee?"

"Perfect," said Angel.

Buffy gave Angel a smile before going around to the passenger side of her dad's car. Angel beat Buffy to the door and quickly turned her around with a hand on her upper arm before she could get in the car. He leaned down and placed a quick soft kiss on her cheek. Buffy blushed and knew she was bright red, which made her thank the night for coming so soon and being so dark. Angel smiled at her before pulling away completely. He was surprised that the kiss had affected him too. But only a little. Guys like him weren't supposed to get worked up over such a chaste kiss like that.

After Buffy got in, Angel shut the door and squatted down so that he could see through the window without bending over. He waved with a fake smile for Hank and then a real one for Buffy. Buffy couldn't see her father's horrified and livid face, but Angel could. Only Buffy waved back.

Hank sped off furiously, setting off the angry horns of other parents and kids in the parking lot. Angel got up again with his smile wiped off his face. He touched his fingers to his mouth, remembering the tiny not-so-innocent-on-his-part kiss he'd given Buffy.

"Just perfect," he whispered again to himself. He hated himself.


	4. Chap 3: Meeting the Parent

Title: Deals With Drugs and Hugs

Author: me hehe...

Disclaimer: none of it's mine, belongs to Joss Whedon and Rob Thomas, blahblahblah

Summary: AU and Xover w/Veronica Mars, BA and a little LoVe. Angel's accused of murder in Neptune and he tricks Buffy into helping prove his innocence. The relationship and the crime gets complicated as secrets reveal themselves. Some plot taken from VM.

Timeline: Set around the 2nd season of VM, but the only thing that's sort of the same is Felix's murder. Buffy's a sophomore with Willow and Xander, the rest of them are seniors.

Spoilers: Season 1 VM but none for Buffy (except maybe her parents' divorce).

Rating: R for violence, crime, some language.

Feedback: it's like chocolate :)

A/N: For anyone who watches VM (you should if you don't, its a great show :D), you might recognize some of the plot, even if the characters are different (Buffy and Angel are so _so _much better than Logan and Hannah together -shudder-). It'll get a lot more AU later on, but for now, there will still be a lot of similar stuff.

* * *

"Can I ask you something?" Angel asked hesitantly.

They were at Buffy's house watching a movie together. Well, sometimes watching.

They had been dating for about three weeks, but most people at school thought that Buffy wasn't going to last much longer. Buffy tried to convince herself that it was true to save herself form heartbreak, but she wanted to hold on to every moment she had with Angel. She was starting to fantasize about him as her Prince Charming. In leather.

Angel, on the other hand, didn't want this to go on much longer. It was too hard for him to be near her, knowing that he was only using her and that any relationship they had wouldn't and couldn't last. He hadn't spoken to Hank yet, either. Hank hadn't been there whenever Angel came over to Buffy's house, which almost made Angel glad for the delay, even if he was running out of time before the trial.

Angel was stretched out on the sofa with an arm around Buffy's body, which was nestled in between his legs. He stroked her hair with his free hand and tried to tell himself that he was only dating her because of her dad.

"Sure," Buffy said in response to his question.

"What happened with your parents?"

Angel didn't know if he should be asking this. He himself pretty much beat up anyone who dared to even ask something about his own parents. He could be a little…touchy sometimes.

"Um…it wasn't so different from other people. They just split up a year ago so they could stop tearing each other apart with their fights," said Buffy, fondling Angel's hand.

"What did they fight about?" Angel asked, whispering into her hair.

Buffy shivered at the feel of his breath against his head and tried to think of an answer to his question. No matter what Willow or her other friends thought, part of her still thought that the divorce was her fault.

"The usual. Money, rumors of an affair," Buffy paused. "And sometimes me."

Angel instinctively tightened his arm around her protectively. He could tell what she thought had happened.

"You think it was because of you," Angel stated.

Buffy nodded slightly. Angel threaded his fingers through hers.

"How could they split up because of you? You're like the golden girl that all parents want and dream for," Angel said to her. How could she think that?

"You didn't know me when I lived in L.A. I lived in Neptune for most of my life, but we decided to move to L.A. about two years ago. Some of the friends I made were um… 'unsavory characters' in the words of the principal. I liked them, though, and they liked me back, so I hung out with them. Sometimes other girls would start saying shit about them or something, and then I'd do it right back to defend my friends, which automatically meant a cat fight at that school, getting me into some deep doo-doo with my parents. And then, near the end of the year, I was hanging out with some of them in the gym, and they were smoking when the gym caught on fire from one of their cigarettes. We tried to put it out, but it was too late. I took the blame 'cause I had the least to lose out of all of us and I got expelled from that school. Well obviously I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I didn't care as much as my parents. They practically disowned me they were so mad," Buffy said in a rush. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around Angel's hand as she left out a crucial part of what happened in L.A. She would tell him someday maybe. Not yet.

"What happened then?" Angel asked quietly.

"They fought about what they were going to do with me. Not that that was anything new, they fought about pretty much everything they could and ignored each other over everything they couldn't. I think Dad thought I was doing drugs or something, 'cause he yelled something about rehab." Buffy saw Angel's look. "Yeah, I know, 'cause I'm _such_ a burnout."

Angel almost wanted to laugh at the irony. If only she knew her dad's dirty little secret.

"Anyway, they just couldn't stand each other anymore and filed for a divorce over the summer. Dad moved back to Neptune, but Mom stayed in L.A. I decided to move with Dad after the divorce 'cause it was Neptune, and I thought Dad might need me more, even though I don't really trust him as much anymore ever since the stuff in L.A. Mom already found a new guy who seems to make her happy, but I thought Dad might be lonely," Buffy said.

Angel wanted to kiss her for her thoughtfulness and for being Buffy and tell her that nothing unfair would ever happen to her again. But he knew it was a lie. And he still wanted to kiss her. They hadn't gone very far, just some stolen kisses and okay, maybe a few make-out sessions here and there. Angel didn't want to scare Buffy by going too fast, and he knew he couldn't get in too deep, so it was a good thing that they hadn't gone too far, right? He cursed himself for not seeing this obstacle before. This really wasn't a good time to start caring for or wanting someone.

"And now you're here," Angel finished for her while trying not to think of her mouth or her body that was pressed up against his.

"Yep," said Buffy, nodding. "Good old Neptune."

"Well, I know you're going to hate me for this, but I'm glad they divorced," Angel said.

Buffy turned over in his arms and looked him in the eye, confused.

"If they hadn't divorced, then I wouldn't have met you," Angel said, smiling.

Buffy smacked him lightly on the chest.

"That has got to be the cheesiest line in all of history. Do other girls actually fall for that kind of stuff?" Buffy said, but she was grinning now too.

Angel laughed.

"You know…you always make me feel better," Buffy said softly and more seriously.

Angel's reply caught in his throat as Buffy leaned her face in closer and pressed her lips to his. Angel smiled against Buffy's mouth at the familiar warmth and leaned back, pulling Buffy down on top of him. This had become his new favorite pastime. He tentatively slid his hands underneath Buffy's shirt and ran his hands up her back as Buffy slipped her tongue into his mouth. Angel let out a groan when Buffy grinded her body against his a little.

They heard a small cough from behind the couch and looked up. Hank was standing above them, glaring furiously at Angel. Buffy quickly jumped off of Angel and the sofa with her face bright red and straightened her shirt. Angel sat up and did his best to look embarrassed for Buffy's sake only. He hated Hank's guts even more now that he'd heard Buffy's story and making him mad made Angel happy. Or at least happi_er_.

"Hello," said Hank shortly. Angel gave him a small wave.

Buffy stared at her dad, confused by his overly rude tone.

"Oh, hey Dad, you're home. Dad, this is Angel," Buffy said, trying not to sound too embarrassed. "We were um watching a movie. Angel, this is my dad."

She hoped it didn't sound too obvious about how much she liked him, but she guessed that it didn't matter much now that he'd seen their little display on the couch. He could probably tell that they weren't exactly watching a movie either.

Hank didn't give a sign that he'd heard Buffy's introductions. Instead, he gave Angel a stare that made the Sahara Desert look like the Arctic. Angel had an idea what was going through Hank's head and smirked at him in return. Luckily, Buffy didn't notice Angel's response.

Hank stomped up the stairs without saying anything else to either of them. Buffy stared after him, still a little confused by his hostility. Sure, no dad really loved their daughter's boyfriends, but most dads were a little more reasonable about the boyfriends. And Buffy's dad usually was.

"Okay, that was…weird," Buffy said, sitting beside Angel on the couch. "He's not usually like that, I swear."

"It's okay. Parents aren't usually lining up to tell me how much they adore me," said Angel. He was more than one hundred percent sure that he knew why Hank had acted that way.

"Jeez, he just had to come home when things were getting hot," Buffy said, laughing. She leaned her head against Angel's shoulder. "I'm never going to live that down."

Angel didn't really understand why making out on a couch was a big deal, but he suddenly remembered that he and Buffy were different in a lot of areas, including experience. He wasn't really big on the whole dating ritual. Mating was more his thing.

"It's funny that this is one of my only dating experiences," Angel said musingly. Funny how it was because of a murder trial too.

"Oh, yeah, you're more used to a whore-of-the-week thing, right?" Buffy said jokingly.

"More like whore-of-the-day," Angel said playfully. Buffy laughed as he leaned down across her and placed a soft kiss underneath her jaw.

"Hey, I have to go the bathroom, you want to go ahead and finish that movie while I'm away?" Angel asked, thinking of Hank.

"Sure. There's a bathroom you can use upstairs."

Angel nodded, giving her a tender kiss on the cheek before getting up and climbing the stairs. This was his chance to confront Hank, although Hank was more likely to confront him first. And hopefully not try and throttle him in the process. He wished for the hundredth time since he'd met Buffy that there was some way to do this without having to separate from her.

Hank was waiting for Angel at the top of the stairs. Angel noticed that it conveniently had a nice view of the couch, where Buffy was still sitting. It was a good thing the volume of the TV was loud enough that Buffy couldn't hear them talking.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" said Hank angrily as soon as Angel reached the second floor. He apparently wasn't one for pleasantries.

"Um, looking for the bathroom?" said Angel, with a mock confused expression on his face.

"Don't joke around with me, you son of a bitch. I want to know what you're doing with my daughter," Hank said.

"Wow, you want a play-by-play? That's pretty pervy, you know," Angel said, smirking.

Hank raised a clenched fist but caught himself in time. He took a careful step back and slowly lowered his hand before speaking again.

"Stay away from Buffy. She doesn't need or want people like you around her," Hank said.

"People like me? Then that'd probably include you, right? Oh, but no, I'm sure she knows everything about you and your drug problems," Angel said.

Hank glared at him balefully. Angel could tell that Hank wanted badly to hit him.

"Pretty silent now, huh?" Angel taunted.

"Then does she know why you started dating her in the first place? She know about your trial?" Hank retorted spitefully. "If I tell her, then you won't even have to avoid her. She'll hate your fucking guts."

"Sure, 'cause she'll just believe every pearl of wisdom that comes out of your mouth after what happened in L.A.," Angel said sarcastically. "Tell you what. I'll stay away from Buffy after you rethink what you saw on the bridge that night," Angel continued, hating what he was saying.

"So you're blackmailing me now?" Hank gritted out.

"Pretty much, yeah," Angel said, nodding.

"I'll withdraw my testimony _after_ I know for sure that there's nothing more between you and Buffy. I'm not taking any chances." Hank forced out the words with his jaw clenched.

"Fine by me," Angel lied. He shrugged in fake indifference.

He turned and walked to the stairs with his jaw set in place from the strain of the conversation. He hoped Hank hadn't noticed how tough the conversation was for him also, but Angel was pretty sure his nonchalant responses hadn't given him away.

"You try anything with her, you can forget any plans you had about your future that doesn't include prison," Hank called after him.

Angel spun around and gave Hank a scout's honor salute and a wink before turning back and going down the stairs. He could feel Hank's glare burning holes into his back.

He didn't want to hurt Buffy, and he didn't even want to think why he didn't want that. He made it a rule not to care about what happened to other people, besides a select few. It wasn't safe and this situation with Buffy just proved his philosophy right. So what was he going to do now?

"Hey, you figure it out?" Buffy asked, smiling when she saw Angel come down from the stairs.

"Huh, what?" How did she know what happened?

"The bathroom," Buffy said, laughing at his caught-with-his-hands-in-the-cookie-jar expression. "Did you find it okay?"

"Oh. I mean, um, yeah, I did," Angel said, realizing his mistake too late.

He sat down on the sofa and put an arm around her. Buffy settled back with a contented sigh against his side. Angel hoped she didn't notice how tense his body was from his argument with her dad.

Using Buffy's words from before, Angel was in some deep doo-doo.


End file.
